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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24573433">Pendragon red, Guinevere purple</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GateofMemory/pseuds/GateofMemory'>GateofMemory</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Merlin's missing moments [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Asexual Merlin (Merlin), Dancing, Episode: s04e12-13 The Sword in the Stone, Merlin's fancy new clothes in the coronation scene, Multi, No Dialogue, Polyamory</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:19:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24573433</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GateofMemory/pseuds/GateofMemory</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin wears a new velvet jacket of deep Pendragon red at the ceremony, because although he is not the one being crowned at Arthur’s side, Merlin belongs to him just the same.  Tucked into the collar of his jacket, a soft silk scarf cut from the same cloth of Guinevere’s purple gown wraps around his throat, because although she is kneeling now for the ceremony, for Arthur, Merlin has always belonged to her as well.</p><p>Gwen's coronation, how they all felt about it, and some musing about colors.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Merlin's missing moments [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pendragon red, Guinevere purple</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Rewatching the episode, Merlin looks so fancy in his new clothes, and so proud!  The whole episode shows the bond between him and Arthur so strongly, and I adore Gwen. So. Combine all of that.<br/>I switch between "Gwen" and "Guinevere" throughout because Merlin and Arthur do.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Merlin wears a new velvet jacket of deep Pendragon red at the ceremony, because although he is not the one being crowned at Arthur’s side, Merlin belongs to him just the same.  Tucked into the collar of his jacket, a soft silk scarf cut from the same cloth of Guinevere’s purple gown wraps around his throat, because although she is kneeling now for the ceremony, for Arthur, Merlin has always belonged to her as well.<br/>Merlin wears both of their colors, of finer materials and tailoring than he’s ever owned, and he stands in his place at the front of the hall. Not because he is Gaius’s apprentice, no, but because that is where he belongs. At the head of the court, closest to his King and now-Queen, but facing them, leading the citizens of Camelot as an equal. Sometimes, recently, it seems as though Gwen has gone from being Merlin’s Queen, at his side facing the dais, to being Arthur’s Queen, at his side facing the crowd. In truth, she has always been Merlin’s-and-Arthur’s, just as they have always been hers-and-each other’s.</p><p>Merlin’s magic is humming as Gwen rises, and he stands tall in the colors of the monarchs. Arthur and Guinevere kiss, and the whole of Camelot seems to bathe in the light from the windows, shining on nobles, merchants, farmers, in celebration of one more piece of Destiny slotting into place. As the two kiss, their hands seem briefly lost, joined yet floating where they would normally be opened and wrapped around Merlin, where he would curl into one of their sides - Arthur’s broad shoulder under his cheek and Gwen’s strong little arms holding them both as she kissed Arthur, or else Merlin’s face in Gwen’s curls with Arthur’s hand solid on his back if the King was wearing too much armor to lean into. <br/>As they separate, Arthur pauses and Guinevere smiles a little oddly, the gentle kiss Arthur then usually presses to Merlin’s head so ingrained that the three of them feel the absence viscerally, like a knight reaching for a sword to find it not in his belt. Merlin feels the ghost of it on his head, in the curling swoop of dark hair where it gives a pleasant magic-like tingle down his arms (but never on his lips, where another mouth makes him feel snakes in his stomach), and feels the answering whisper of his own lips where they should press against Gwen’s warm temple in the next choreographed step of their Arthur-Merlin-Guinevere dance. </p><p>But today, the men had agreed, was Guinevere’s day alone, though she insists a day can never be for sole focus on one person (Arthur reminds her of his coronation day, when Merlin and Guinevere stood tall and proud and looked only at their King, and Merlin reminds her of the days after his trip home, when Arthur and Gwen rode out to meet him so he might not feel so heartsore at leaving Hunith again). So now Arthur doesn’t search out Merlin’s eyes at the front of the hall as he raises his Queen’s hand and presents her to the chanting, cheering crowd. And Merlin doesn’t look to Arthur either, because today they both only have eyes for Guinevere, Queen of Camelot. The birds outside raise their voices to the sky as if in celebration and Merlin cannot guarantee he doesn’t have anything to do with their rapture, unintentional though it may be.</p><p>There will be feasting and dancing and music, gifts and fealty given to the new Queen, and Merlin will give her a dance when most revelers have stumbled home and the court musicians have such tender fingers that they can only bear to pluck out slow airs and waltzes. Gaius will excuse himself, joints creaking as Arthur helps him up and escorts the old physician to his chambers himself. The King will return, Merlin knows, when the servants are clearing the final dishes and the knights will bow once more to their Queen before taking their leave. Merlin and Gwen will sway together while the musicians watch and smile at the blacksmith’s daughter who once danced with the crown prince at the harvest festival, now a Queen dancing with the King's servant. Then the musicians will look away and Arthur is the one who will watch until Merlin kisses his Queen’s temple as he always does, and they will cling to each other as the music finally dies away. Later still, Sefa will help Gwen change to her embroidered shift and Merlin will help Arthur remove his kingly mail, and then Merlin will turn back the featherbed and light the candles, stoke the fire before Gwen can try to do it and ruin her nightgown, and then...Merlin will kiss Gwen’s temple and Arthur will kiss Merlin’s hair and Merlin will slip away to his own room, trying not to wake Gaius with the crackle of satisfied, love-lulled magic glittering at his fingertips.<br/>In his room he’ll find one more new garment - a rich woad-dyed soft woolen tunic, fit for royalty and the bluest blue in Camelot, and he’ll laugh because of course that Guinevere-purple silk could not be dyed without both Pendragon-red and Ealdor-woad blue.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some thoughts I tried to write in: <br/>We are shown how much Morgana underestimates Merlin because when she dreams this scene, he's in his normal servant clothing, yet when it actually happens he's dressed to the nines!</p><p>There's an odd drifting that Arthur's and Gwen's hands do when they kiss in this scene, as if they're going to reach out to the side.</p><p>This is the one scene I can think of when they're in the throne room and Arthur doesn't look towards Merlin</p><p>Because Merlin is from a farming village and the brightest blue we see in all the costumes are his tunics, I'm pretending they grew woad in Ealdor</p></blockquote></div></div>
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